35 Before 35: Eat Fresh Sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market

Posted on October 21, 2013

We visited the Tsukiji Fish Market on our second full day in Japan, so we were still having trouble sleeping, which made eating sushi for breakfast a little less weird. However, the first thing we did was go to church.

Right next to the Tsukiji Fish Market is the Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, which happens to be Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, the denomination I belonged to as a kid back in Vancouver. Yup, that’s right. I was raised as a Buddhist.

Turns out we showed up just in time for morning service, so Rick got to experience his first Buddhist service. I was really struck by how similar the layout of the interior of the temple was to my church back in Vancouver, although the exterior had an almost Indian feel, which I thought was very interesting.

The service itself was also very similar to what I’d grown up with , with the requisite chanting and sermons, although I did notice that the chanting in Japan was much more melodic than what I was used to. It was almost like they were singing it, which was very beautiful.

I spotted this guy as we followed the stream of tourists to the center of the market, and being the crazy-cat-lady I am I had to grab a pic.

Fresh fish and seafood abounded.

As did wholesale fishcake vendors.

Fugu fins! Apparently you can put them in sake and dare your friends to drink it.

More fish!

As well as the tourist facing stalls and whatnot, Tsukiji Market is also an international market for the wholesale buying and selling of fish that is extremely busy even once the fish auctions are done.

Because we’d waited so long to get to the market, Rick wasn’t really into fighting the crowds to get into the most renowned sushi places in the market, so we stopped at the first one that looked welcoming to tourists. We wimped out and just got a sampler, but if I had to do it again I’d just get a huge plate of fatty tuna and big the fuck out.

There was also a little Shinto shrine on the other side of the market. Does anyone know why they put the red capes on the Kitsune statues?

Hi, I’m Mariko!

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